Device for monitoring the presence of a person using proximity induced dielectric shift sensing
US6025782A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 9, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 15, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 9, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2562/227
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A capacitive array is housed within a polyester mat or other appropriate nonconductive substrate material which is interconnected with a control module. The control module supplies to the capacitive array a suitable oscillator driver current and concurrently senses capacitance value changes within the capacitive array induced through dielectric shifts within the array brought about by the proximity or absence thereof of the patient's body mass. The control module consists of a power supply, a driver/sensor circuit, a calibration/comparator logic circuit, a system interconnection integrity circuit, and an alarm generation circuit. It may also optionally contain a nurse call relay circuit for interconnection to a facility's nurse call system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.